Aug 5, 2008

We are out of here for a few days. We're heading up north to visit my uncle in Beulah. My grandparents owned a cottage there so my dad and uncles spent most summers in Beulah. So, of course, growing up I spent a lot of summers there, too. It holds lots of fond memories for me and I'm excited to share them with my children. My mission: to see if it is an urban legend or not that my grandparents' summer cottage was named JATOMBO (after the three boys - Jack, Bob and Tom). It sounds so exotic! I'll be back next week and hopefully have loads of photos to share. Here's just one of The Cherry Hut when I made a cherry pie run last summer on an overnight stay in Traverse City.

Aug 1, 2008

Last Saturday I had the fun of attending the local Breast Cancer 3Day Expo. Two of my teammates, my sisters Debbie and Sarah, were able to attend as well.

Debbie and I loaded up our kids into the car with us. This has truly been turning into a family experience for us.

We joined up with Sarah and made our way. The first thing we did upon arriving was to hit the bathroom.

Okay, so that's certainly not the most important thing but it is the first thing we did. Then we entered the main expo area and were immediately greeted by women in pink boas cheering us on. Just that was cool. We wrote encouraging letters to each other that will be delivered at camp and signed a large banner that will be on display in the opening and closing ceremonies. My kids wrote me letters and it took all that within me not to look over their shoulders and try to read them. I will just have to be surpised at camp.

Did I mention camp? That's right, we spend the nights in these tiny tents, two to a tent. Of course, everything is pink!

We learned about the pit stops, checked out training gear (I bought a second pair of shoes so I can start breaking them in) and had a few snacks. It was a good time. I feel more confident in my ability to complete the walk. The boy took a photo of all of us girls and he pointed out that he moved a bit so that we'd be on one side but you could see the balloons on the other side. Wonder where he gets it from?!?

And lastly, the trio of sisters that are walking: Deb, Sarah and myself.

I am getting closer to my support goal of $2200. I am currently at $775. A new round of thanks goes out to:

The Petrotta FamilyThe Calvert Family

I really need your help here. I would like to get the total support of $2200 collected by August 8th. If you are considering donating, please do so in this coming week. If I don't get the full donation, I am unable to walk. I've been so encouraged by the donations and the nice notes coming in with them. Please help me reach my goal. Any donation - $1 to $100 - is really needed. If you have already supported another 3Day Walker I would ask you to consider making a $3 donation to me. That's just $1 for each day of walking 20 miles. The button is just to your right. I am walking so that one day, we can cure breast cancer and no person will have to deal with such an unforgiving disease. I need your help. Thanks so much!

As many of you know, I decided to challenge myself with Project 366 this year. I have been taking one photograph a day using my new Fuji point & shoot. Well, yesterday I took the photo of my daughter in her new tee and three hours later when I turned it back on to show my sisters, the lens got stuck. It won't close or focus.

I can't take any pictures!

I'm not sure if you fully understand how much this devastates me. The camera is still under warranty so I am shipping it to Fuji for repair but I do not want to stop Project 366. This is truly a strange request, but if anyone has a Fuji Finepix F50FD that I can borrow for the next month or so, I would truly appreciate it. Yes, I can use my Nikon, but I was really enjoying the challenge of being creative and thinking outside the box with my little Fuji Finepix and would feel like I was cheating somehow. How much would I appreciate it? Enough to offer you a complimentary Gallery R Session. That's $165 value, folks. Please email or call if you're willing to take me up on this crazy offer!

Now get out there and enjoy this beautiful summer we've been having. Is it just me, or is there an abundance of fireflies this year? I've really been enjoying seeing their show of glow. Totally takes me back to being a kid.